In the 1980’s I owned a vinyl version of this release, an edited version of this release. I used to hear Deep Purple’s Made In Japan thundering from my older brother’s room. I thought nothing of it. Then came MTV and I saw videos by Blackmore’s band Rainbow. Soon I was listening to all the Deep Purple I could lay my hands on, especially the Mach II recordings.
This album is two concerts recorded live for the BBC. The version I have includes the host introducing the band and the songs. I like hearing some of the banter, though that may change after I listen a few more times. On the second show there is some nut with a squeaky toy or something that you can hear between songs. The concerts represent what was best and sometimes worst about early 70’s hard rock. The music is raw, and the solos are long. Some might say too long. We’ll get there later.
The first concert is from about the time of the release of In Rock, the first album with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. The band was moving from progressive rock into hard rock. The musical struggle between Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord had been won by Ritchie. This concert is the transition period for the band- and it shows. There are only 4 songs. Two are from the new album- Speed King and Child in Time. The other 2 are from their albums with Rod Evans and Nick Simper on vocals and bass- Wring that Neck and Mandrake Root.
Speed King opens the gig with Jon Lord’s Hammond B-3 organ leading the way. It is a hyped up 50’s r & b number in some ways. It is by far the shortest song in the concert, but gives a clue what is to come. It features the interplay between Blackmore and Lord’s instruments that made their music great. They were 2 great musicians who fed off of one another, challenging one another and complementing one another. It is just a meaningless song that is an excuse to turn up the amps. Ironically it slows down greatly during one musical break and Gillan improvises shortly.
The band then moves into Child in Time. This song allowed Gillan to show off his vocals. He didn’t have much of a chance to do that in this concert so he let it rip. This song would become a concert standard for them with its extended solos. It is interesting as a combination existential chaos (see the blind man, he’s shooting at the world) and a moral vision carried over from Gillan’s youth as a Catholic (can you see the line, the line that drawn between the good and the bad, if you’ve been bad, and I bet you have…). The remnants of his upbringing will arise periodically in their lyrics.
Wring that Neck is an instrumental. Blackmore displays his speed and virtuosity. It has always been one of my favorite Purple tunes. It clocks in at 18 minutes. Not much of it is wasted, in my opinion. There have been much longer versions of this song. Could it be more compact?Yes. But it makes a great song to listen to in the car. As usual Ian Paice and Roger Glover lay down a solid groove for Blackmore and Lord to play over. Paice is an often under-appreciated drummer. In his generation he was up there with Moon and Bonham. He was more disciplined than Keith Moon, but there are some wild flourishes on this disc. Paice is as good of a drummer as Blackmore and Lord are a guitarist and keyboardist. Sometimes Glover had to be bored, but on some songs his work is more complex. This one is more fun for him, but the next one didn’t seem to require much of him. He’d have more interesting music to play in the 2nd concert.
That song is Mandrake Root which is 17+ minutes long with lyrics only in the first few minutes. It is a heavy song that has plenty of good music in it. But there are moments that we could do without. The first disc stands at just under an hour of music. And just 4 songs.
The second concert is essentially an album release party for their classic, Machine Head. They play every song but one from that album. The only other song is from their Fireball album. Since all the rest are new songs, they are rough- having not gotten into their final concert form. As far as I know, these are the only live versions of Maybe I’m a Leo and Never Before with Blackmore. Everything else would become a concert standard for tours to come.
They began, as they seemingly began every show after this, with Highway Star. The intro was a little different than what you are used to hearing but it is still a good version of the song. It didn’t quite build up layer upon layer as it soon would. Blackmore’s solo was a little different than usual for this song. But it would end with the typical gong clash. Blackmore’s odd sense of humor arises as he tosses in snippets of other familiar songs. It was something he’d like to do. In one place in the concert he was playing Jingle Bells, and purposefully ends on the wrong notes. He’s just that kind of guy which may explain why his bands have had revolving doors for personnel.
Then they played the single off of Fireball- Strange Kind of Woman. Gillan tells the audience that this was based on a true story. The title reflects the King James version’s term for the adulterous woman in Proverbs. This is probably the smoothest song of the concert since they’d been playing this song for awhile. It is also one of the best versions of this song. It, of course, features the interplay between Gillan and Blackmore as they match each other note for note. This is a live classic.
They then move into Maybe I’m a Leo. Gillan describes it as a blues number though it didn’t sound like one. Lyrically this and Never Before (the first single from the album) are similarly about love gone wrong. They are about broken hearts. The announcer lets us know that this version of Never Before is shorter, with one of Blackmore’s nice sounding solos removed. Both songs are short, or economical. There are no extended solos here, they pretty much stick to the album versions. But Leo ends oddly, like they weren’t exactly sure how to end it.
They then play Lazy, which the announcer notes may be anything but. It has what is commonly recognized as one of Blackmore’s greatest solos. Unlike the later versions, Jon Lord doesn’t just about destroy his Marshall amps with feedback at the beginning. The lyrics reflect the teaching of Proverbs and are about a man who refuses to help himself. Gillan plays some harmonica during the instrumental sections of the song.
The intro to Space Truckin’ is a little different this time around. It is a mini-solo by Jon Lord. This is one of the better versions of this extended song. Blackmore plays with feedback while really bending the strings. There is a short solo by Roger on the bass. The song bogs down a little bit toward the end, but it is 20 minutes afterall.
Little did they realize that Smoke on the Water would become their signature song. The song begins as it usually does, but Blackmore’s solo this time around was a bit subdued. He slows it down.
They end the concert with a cover of Lucille. It takes awhile for the song to get rolling. I think Blackmore or Glover had to do some tuning. It is a good cover of an okay song.
While this was not their best live album, it is a very good one. Since they have so many, it is important to sort out the good from the best. Its strength is representing two very different time periods of the same line up. In the first they are still trying to get a handle of the new line up. In the second they have pretty much figured it out before a few of them got sick of each other. It is just before they hit their peak. It also has songs you won’t find them playing live elsewhere. So this is an important contribution to the Deep Purple fan’s collection. Now, if only Amazon would get more copies of Live in Stuttgart.
Cavman Considers 
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